Customer Reviews

Cloudburst: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cloudburst reminded me of an early Tom Clancy novel--a sprawling cast of characters, weapons galore, high-tech espionage, and a do-or-die operation to vanquish terrorists and rescue innocents.

The story plays out in multiple locales, from multiple viewpoints, letting the reader experience events through the eyes of an FBI agent, the president's national security adviser, members of elite military units, and even the antagonists.

Even though this is a plot driven story, I enjoyed the time given to the main characters, though it would have been nice to glimpse their lives beyond the maelstrom of the action.

A very enjoyable read. Perfect for summer.

This one started off a little slow for me, say the first 5% of the Kindle version, but the author suddenly kicked it from first gear all the way to fifth. After a while, the turbo boost engaged and what you have is a pulse-racing thriller. Forgive the auto references but believe me when I tell you this is one action-packed thriller that had my heartbeat increasing on occasion until I completed it.

The author does a really good job of explaining the technical details related to science, aviation, and the military without the reader feeling either overwhelmed or the thought of being talked down to while reading. His character dialogue is outstanding as well as the development of those characters for both the "good" and the "bad" guys. I was impressed with how he was able to switch scenes from an FBI team, the armed terrorists, the Delta force team, and the defector with ease and weave it all together.

About the only negative I could give it is there are a few words that are typos, and some of it appears dated - early Vietnam war veterans still in active-duty front-line service, for example, but it does not take away from an all-around great read.

As I type this review, the book is free in the Amazon Kindle store which raises the rating an extra star; if it is still showing up for free I highly recommend you grab it. It was refreshing to read an action-packed novel that doesn't seem to repeat the Vince Flynn / Lee Child framework, and I am looking forward to reading more from the author.

The author REALLY had to do some homework for all the tech info involved, but it was explained so even the layman could understand. The plot was really detailed, but again, easy to assimilate. The skipping from one of many venues to another within a few pages was disorienting at first, as was keeping track of some of the characters, but surprisingly it all fell into place...eventually. For a real page clicker (that phrase has now entered the vernacular of ereaders) and edge of your seat thrills, I highly recommend Cloudburst.
One sort of odd typo...in about 12 to 15 occurances (on Kindle), the word "the" was printed as "die". From a German translator perhaps?

Thought that the overall storyline and concept were well thought out and that the author was very descriptive throughout. I liked how as events were unfolding, he left just enough unsaid so that you had to keep reading to find out more. Another thing that added depth to this story was including the thoughts of all characters as they were immersed in dialogue. This gripped the reader more and kept the emotion alive during the more intense scenes. Pearson definitely knows his technology, weapons, vehicles, equipment, etc., and was able to put it in a language that even an accountant such as myself could follow. As noted by the other few reviewers, there was the occasional typo of "die" in place of "the". A bit annoying, but nothing to get overly hung up on. I do look forward to reading more books by Pearson, whether free or not, in the near future.

Well researched and well written. Still, it was hard to keep track of the large cast of characters. Would make a good movie.

I love Amazon and I love free books! This was a great read! It was convoluted, kept me turning the pages and had me on the edge of my seat. Definitely would be enjoyed by anyone who serves the public in the capacity of protection. Yes it did remind me of some of the other military type authors and I believe it was equally well written. I won't give away the plot but I would encourage you to read it if you like suspense/thriller type books.

Loved it - i have read all clancy and flynn plus others and although no one can measure up to clancy's first few this is a good read

That's my response to this book. It never really held my attention nor cost me any sleep, like a great book that can't be put down. A presidential killing becomes a very minor plot point, characters at the epilogue are unfamiliar due to hundred page disappearances and nobody is well developed. Finally, the whole book is very outdated.

The novel has a really fast start. It is pretty much the best start of a novel that I've read since Persuader by Lee Child. A person is killed in Los Angeles in a huge rain of bullets and missiles which starts a chain of events in Greece, Los Angeles, and Libya. The story is told from the perspective of four people primarily. Art Jefferson, a career agent with the FBI, Bud DiContino, newly promoted chief of the NSA, Bart Hendrickson, the pilot of a 747 that gets hijacked, and DONNER, a double agent in Libya.

Once the story is set, the different characters are all moving along different story lines that you soon find out are interconnected. Art has to track down the assasins, the 747 gets hijacked - and mysterious cargo gets loaded onto the plane in Libya. Meanwhile Bud has to manage the whole situation from DC alongside a newly sworn in president.

The story moves along quickly, and the ending is exciting. The military jargon is accurate, but not obtrusive. I like how some old school fighter planes end up getting reactivated during the story as well.

I loved this book from cover to cover. I love the way the author tied the elements together. It was one of those books that you just can't put down. I highly recommend this book if you like good action military reading.